Spotlight: Russia-U.S. compromise on Syrian crisis sends positive signal, experts say
Focused mainly on the Syrian crisis,
Monday's meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his U.S.
counterpart Barack Obama seemed to give a green light to the airstrikes
carried out by Russian air forces in Syria, which started Wednesday and
are expected to last for a period of time, Russian experts said.
In spite of distinct disputes on such issues as the Ukraine crisis and
the Syrian conflict, the two countries managed to coordinate, sending a
positive signal regarding the improvement of bilateral relations and
their readiness to cooperate more on solving international issues, the
experts said.
the Syrian conflict, the two countries managed to coordinate, sending a
positive signal regarding the improvement of bilateral relations and
their readiness to cooperate more on solving international issues, the
experts said.
"The start of a dialogue between the two leaders, even if the
conversation is of technical nature, can serve as a basis for the future
unlocking of relations, although the conditions for such are not yet
ripe currently," Andrei Kolesnikov, a senior expert at the Carnegie
Moscow Center, told Xinhua.
Andrei Kortunov, director-general of the Russian Council for
International Affairs, said the Putin-Obama meeting suggested progress
have been made through other channels, and "signals would be given to
relevant departments and officials on both sides to resume consultations
on the most pressing issues such as the Syrian crisis."
The situation in the Middle East is replacing the Ukraine crisis as the
new point of serious disagreement between Moscow and Washington,
Kolesnikov said, adding that under the new circumstances, "some
cooperation, even (if it is) only technical, is necessary."
Both experts expected the top leaders' meeting to push either
cooperation on the Syrian crisis or coordination on the Ukraine crisis
toward greater policy convergence.
"It is a positive thing that convergence of positions on some issues is
emerging," Kortunov said while reminding that "no cardinal shift or
resetting of Russia-U.S. relations can be expected" as the two countries
have too many differences on major issues of world politics.
